This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. Registered in England and Wales. Number 8860726.

Digital Transformer Program Merges Physics and Information

All Sensformer will be equipped with an IoT gateway to provide direct real-time measurements of oil level, top oil temperature, LV winding current and GPS location

Jun 19, 2018

Siemens' new Sensformer merges physics and information and ensures digital intelligence for transformers regardless of their product class, size and rating. As transformers are placed at critical nodes of the power grid, they are perfect sensors for grid conditions containing full information on energy flow. Sensformer provides the easy step-in to digitalization for all customers, turning the “voltage regulators” into an info-hub.

The data will allow for conclusions on the status of the assets as well as the power grid and thus allow for enhanced flexibility and optimized operation of the entire grid. While currently available solutions are imposing additional hurdles in terms of cost and complexity to customers, Sensformer will already be equipped per default with easy-to-use digital intelligence. The basic functionalities of Sensformer (including hardware, software and cloud access) are kept simple for ease of use. The Sensformer also holds the advantage of offering highest stability by limiting physical measurements to the bare minimum as well as avoiding unnecessary IT equipment at site. Siemens will shift its complete transformer portfolio to Sensformer starting June 2018.

“The current challenge of the transformer industry is to enable connectivity for all assets. With the launch of Sensformer we combine function and information in one product with the focus on simplicity and smart data”, says Beatrix Natter, CEO Transformers at Siemens Energy Management. “Like the smart phone has replaced the cell phone, all transformers will be Sensformer in the near future,” Natter adds.

All Sensformers will be equipped with an IoT gateway to provide direct real-time measurements of oil level, top oil temperature, LV winding current and GPS location. Every operator will get access to a cloud-based platform application that visualizes the collected data and provides insights on the assets’ status and performance across voltage levels. Knowing the exact status of their transformers will enable grid operators to face challenges like integrating a growing amount of renewables and distributed energy generation into the power grid, while operating their networks as economically as possible. In a next step the co-creation process with customers will lead to different application sets and apps tailor-made to customers’ needs. With MindSphere Siemens offers a cloud-based, open operating system for developing these applications. MindSphere is Siemens’ cloud-based, open Internet of Things (IoT) platform that connects physical assets to the digital world, and enables powerful applications and digital services.

Siemensintroduces this product with cybersecurity features complying to all the relevant standards today.